A total of 1,899,148 tourists visited Malaysia in May 2008, representing an increase of 3.1% compared to the same month in 2007.

Cumulatively, tourist arrivals recorded from January to May 2008 were 9,001,765, representing an increase of 1.3% compared to 8,886,832 for the same period in 2007.

For May 2008, Singapore maintained its position as the biggest tourist generating market for Malaysia with 1,011,090 Singaporeans visiting the country. Others in the top ten list are Indonesia (189,157), Thailand (125,715), China (including Hong Kong & Macau) (78,538), Brunei (75,245), India (74,422), the Philippines (36,729), Japan (30,560), Australia (28,432) and South Korea (22,457).

For the first time, the monthly arrivals from India reached a record 70,000 figure in the month of May.

Most major markets also recorded double digit growth in the month of May 2008 compared to the same month in 2007. They are Russia (96.7%), South Korea (69.8%), South Africa (66.5%), the Netherlands (56.9%), Canada (52.7%), Switzerland (48.2%), New Zealand (48.2%), Australia (42.7%), France (39.7%), Cambodia (38.9%), China (including Hong Kong & Macau) (38.2%), the United Kingdom (35.3%), Germany (35.1%), India (32.5%), Japan (31.2%) the Philippines (18.5%), Indonesia (14.3%) and Taiwan (13.5%).

The top ten tourist generating markets from January to May 2008 were Singapore (4,499,057), Indonesia (886,496), Thailand (613,993), China (including Hong Kong & Macau) (418,327), Brunei (350,386), India (234,245), Japan (173,128), Australia (163,210), the Philippines (153,526) and the United Kingdom (149,890).

For more information, please log on to Tourism Malaysia's online Media Centre at http://www.tourismmalaysia.gov.my/tourismbiz/media_centre/ and click on “Facts and Figures.”